At the time Adena was built, paint was a sign of status. Paint was mixed by hand using various materials to produce the colors. The materials were expensive and the job of painting, then as now, the work of a skilled artisan.

Meanwhile, wood was plentiful, so a fine paneled wall was not impressive unless it was painted an expensive color.

Nothing has changed more in historic restorations than the methods to determine old paint colors. The old scratch and match method has been replaced by microscopic and chemical analysis.